Results tagged “Meghan Russell” from Drama Queen

Today's assignment is a quick hit: write just the lede for a review of Keuka College's production of Christopher Durang's Miss Witherspoon. Seems simple enough, one opening paragraph, done and done. Well, it's not. Here's the thing: several of the O'Neill Critics Institute students wrote what Michael Phillips--when he taught my NEA critics' class--called an "iris shot" lede. It's the specific moment in a production that illustrates exactly why you loved or hated the production, or maybe highlights the production's goals and shows how the team succeeded or failed. Plus, since it's just a lede, that paragraph needs to be a megawatt beacon that illuminates the path to your eventual (and in this case, imaginary) conclusion.

So go on and tell us: which lede/s makes you want to keep reading, and why.

Shawn
Arnold

"Oh
no, not again." The room spins. A woman on a chair writhes and contorts. She
grips the seat, but it is no use. Falling with a thud, she flops about as a
white vortex opens behind her.Snap! All suddenly goes black. The woman opens her eyes in
a nursery and discovers she is now A BABY! This is but one of the many
reincarnations ofMiss Witherspoon. InChristopher Durang's absurdly funny play,KeukaCollegepresents a fable--with a few
stumbles--that will keep the audience asking, "WHAT DID SHE JUST SAY?!"

Amy
Asendorf

Tip:
When searching for a personal sense of fulfillment, it is wise tobegin with a healthy dose of
suicide. Go right ahead! Run intooncoming
traffic, overdose, invite the dog to nibble on yourflesh. Any method will suffice!Christopher
Durang's MissWitherspoon,as
performed byKeukaCollege,offers a surprisingly comicaltake on the perpetual conflict consuming every
down-and-outexistentialist. Though thejourney to happiness may be long, even the hopeless
can restassured events are cosmically
ordained to bringmeaning to life. However,
with this production, thejourney is so long
and convoluted, hope is nearly impossible toextract.

Nicholas
Barilar

Chicken Little, Gandalf (The
Lord of the Rings' wizard), an abusive parent, an Indian angel, suicide,
and Jesus Christ in a muu muu are now available in one convenient package! All
of these characters--and more--reside in KeukaCollege's
production of Christopher Durang's Miss
Witherspoon. As an added bonus, they'll throw in brilliantly conveyed
messages about the weight of consequence and the redemptive power of self, all delivered
in a satiric fashion, all for no extra charge!

Robby
Bassler

KeukaCollege's production of Christopher
Durang's Miss Witherspoon tugged my
soul between heaven and hell. Maryamma (Meghan Russell) a Hindu goddess wrapped
in a divine blue and gold sari, pondered the meaning of reincarnation while
alternately adopting the stereotypical Indian accent of The Simpsons' Apu and the Jamaican patois of infomercial queen Miss
Cleo. As these contradictions snowballed, Miss
Witherspoon left me in limbo.

Michael Cook

The world is in danger because humans can't just get along,
the sky is falling, events from decades past traumatize one woman. Only one
person can stand up and save humanity. Who is this hero? Why, Miss Witherspoon
of course! Chistopher Durang's Miss Witherspoon tracks our reluctant
hero's spiritual journey through the afterlife. As with many other Durang
plays, no topic is taboo and audiences will find themselves laughing at topics
they'd otherwise find uncomfortable. However, KeukaCollege's
recent production was like reluctantly going on a spiritual journey that no one
could stop once it started.

Mark Costello

A young woman of no more than 21 flops around like a beached
sea creature. She's writhing in a big way, as though her brown-hued, business-casual
outfit is made of peanuts and she's allergic. Her eyes strain upward, her face
is almost on the ground, and in a terrified flash, her hand darts back toward
her raised hindquarters. Stunned confusion soon trumps horror, as said hand
spastically fans an imaginary flame. We soon get it: she's pretending to be a
dog. This unfortunate, disturbing mishandling of Christopher Durang's
pleasantly dark comedy is the norm in KeukaCollege's
Miss Witherspoon, directed by Mark
Wenderlich.

Connor Davis

Is
this Heaven? Nope, it's purgatory, and unless you quit killing yourself you're
going to stay here for all eternity! Sticking around may be a problem for suicidal
Veronica, who rests uneasily at the center of Christopher Durang'sPulitzer Prize-finalistfarceMiss Witherspoon.KeukaCollege's witty tongue-in-cheek
production puts audience members in Veronica's shoes. Fueled by rapid comedic
timing and absurdist farce, director Mark Wenderlich creates a fun production
that's stimulates the mind with ideas about morality and hope.

Valerie
Gibbs

"Who said life has to
move forward? Can't it move backwards, too?" KeukaCollege's
production of Christopher Durang's Miss Witherspoon,
directed by Mark Wenderlich, provides a unique response to this question.In the place between life on earth and
eternal afterlife, we find Miss Witherspoon - a woman forced into perpetual
reincarnation until she rids herself of bad karma and achieves divine
enlightenment. Unfortunately, this production struggles to accomplish a similar
goal.

Peter Starr Northrop

So the lights came up for KeukaCollege's
production of Christopher Durang's Miss
Witherspoon and immediately this insufferable woman started yammering into
a telephone. Her tone was flat, her voice irritating. I groaned at the thought
of listening to her prattle on for a whole production, and held that thought
for all of two seconds when, suddenly, the sky fell down and she died--much to
the audience's delight. This is how a legendary show begins.

Nathan Taylor

Ever wanted to see a two-week-old baby incite an invisible
dog named Fido into mauling her to death? Never fear, KeukaCollege
is here with Christopher Durang's Miss
Witherspoon. With the edge of a baseball bat, this script remains a gift
from heaven while the production clings to tearing pages as flames lick at its
feet.

Jensen
Toperzer

KeukaCollege's production of Christopher Durang's Miss
Witherspoon is a manic dive through contemporary American culture, filled
with rapid-fire commentary on everything from the post-9/11 culture of fear to
modern New Age 'crystal and candle' religions. Sara Munio's Veronica bemoans
her fate (a series of unhappy reincarnations), inviting a playful sense of
cathartic schadenfreude. But the
true show-stealer is Meghan Russell as quirky, overly cheerful guru Maryamma.

Kelly
Wetherald

Is
life like a box of chocolates?No. Life is a dream-cycle filled with suffering,
sacrifice, and perpetual annoyance; at least according to Miss Witherspoon, Christopher
Durang's suicidal cynic starving for peace in the afterlife.KeukaCollege's production ofMissWitherspoon came to the Kennedy Center American
College Theater Festival stage to express dual ideas: the importance of
reincarnation and society's future survival. Did it achieve those goals?
Or was the hour and a half simply a one man show with an abusive mother, Hindu
spiritual guide and invisible dog named Fido thrown in for spice?